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HVM teams with Status GP for LMP2 entry in WEC

HVM Racing will be part of an LMP2 effort with Status GP in 2013. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

The HVM Racing Izod IndyCar Series team is joining forces with the Anglo-Irish Status GP squad for an attack on the LMP2 division in next year's FIA World Endurance Championship.

HVM, which ran Simona De Silvestro in a Lotus-engined Dallara in this year's IndyCar Series, last month announced its intention to move into sports cars. It has now forged a link with Silverstone-based Status GP, which last year branched out into sports cars from the GP3 open-wheeler series.

HVM boss Keith Wiggins, who formerly ran the Pacific Formula One team in 1994-95, said, “We made a decision to expand our interests into sports cars for next year, and once we looked at the WEC program, it was obvious we needed a European base. Then we started a dialogue with my old friends at Status and it quickly became a partnership both parties wanted and embraced."

Status GP team principal Teddy Yip Jr., whose team was a frontrunner in the European Le Mans Series in 2012, said, “For the step up to a full-time FIA WEC program, our combined strengths create a very strong platform for technical personnel, resources and contacts with drivers and sponsors in both Europe and the USA.”

The new team, which will run under the HVM Status GP banner, plans to run at least one Lola B12/60-Judd/BMW in the full WEC, which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. HVM has not ruled out continuing in IndyCar if it secures the necessary funding.